Bill Walton’s long, special relationship with the Grateful Dead

In the years that followed, Walton accompanied the Dead on their performances at the pyramids in Egypt, drummed onstage with Hart and fellow drummer Bill Kreutzmann, and performed as Father Time at a Dead & Company concert when the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve 2019. (Walton was also a fan of other musicians, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Phish.)

After Walton joined the Celtics before the 1985-86 season, Celtics star Larry Bird organized a team outing to a Dead show in Worcester, Massachusetts, to welcome the rookie. Years later, Walton was inducted into the Grateful Dead Hall of Honor – “my greatest honor,” he told Relix Magazine.

“He knew the music inside and out,” said Hart, who recalled that Walton’s favorite Dead song was “Fire on the Mountain.”

Walton also seemed to engage in other activities related to the Dead – most notably playing basketball.

“The music and basketball were exactly the same,” he wrote. “You have a team with a goal, a band with a song and fans cheering because they’re happy, but also to encourage the players to do better, faster and to push everyone forward.”

He continued, “During the game, during the song, everyone goes in their own direction and plays their own tune. But then, with the greatness of a team, the greatness of a leader and the willingness to answer a higher calling, they are all able to come back and finish the job together – win the game and send people out into the night in ecstasy and wanting more.”